Tree felling guider

ABSTRACT

A tree felling guider in which a rod is adapted to be supported at one end on the ground in an inclined position with its other end provided with means to engage the tree trunk. The trunk engaging means comprises a stepping wheel provided with pointed teeth and means for rotating the wheel in one direction so that the rod end will move along the tree trunk toward its root. There is also provided a pawl for preventing rotation of the wheel in the opposite direction.

nited States Patent [191 Enander Dec. 11, 1973 TREE FELLING GUIDER [75]Inventor: Per Henry Enander, Svedbro,

Gnarp, Sweden [73] Assignee: Skogsdon Aktiebolag, Stockholm,

Sweden [22] Filed: Mar. 16, 1972 [2]] Appl. No.: 235,234

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data May 17, 1971 Sweden 6406/71 [52]US. Cl. 254/1, 254/133 [51] Int. Cl. B661 1/00, B66f 3/00 [58] Field ofSearch 254/1, 133; 144/34 A [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTSl,477,298 12/1923 Templeton 254/133 2,583,945 l/l952 Jacobs 254/133Primary Examiner-Othell M. Simpson Attorney-Frank A. Follmer [57]ABSTRACT A tree felling guider in which a rod is adapted to be supportedat one end on the ground in an inclined position with its other endprovided with means to engage the tree trunk. The trunk engaging meanscomprises a stepping wheel provided with pointed teeth and means forrotating the wheel in one direction so that the rod end will move alongthe tree trunk toward its root. There is also provided a pawl forpreventing rotation of the wheel in the opposite direction.

8 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures TREE FELLING GUIDER BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION The present invention refers to a tree felling guider providedwith a rod which, in the tree felling operation, is brought into aninclining position between a point of support on the ground and the mainstem or trunk of the tree to be felled, and whose end intended to bearon the tree trunk has a step feeding device. The latter is arranged tocooperate with the tree trunk, so that its said end will ,then movealong the tree stem towards its root end.

Rod-like tree felling guiders are known in prior art. These are designedby variation of its length by means of a jack-like hydraulic clampingmeans to be fixed in between a spot on the ground and the stem of thetree to be felled. Tree felling guiders of the said kind arecomparatively heavy and clumsy and, moreover, complicated in designandthus also expensive to manufacture. The changing of the rod lengthdetermined by the stroke of the hydraulic device is fairly limited.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION By the tree felling guider according to theinvention the above said drawbacks are practically totally eliminated inthat the step feeding device consists of a stepping wheel provided withgripper means and means by which the wheel can be made to rotate in onedirection, as well as a catch or locking device arranged to prevent therotation of the wheel in the opposite direction. The gripper means ofthe stepping wheel is preferably composed of pointed teeth located aboutits circumference.

The arrangement for rotating the wheel should be designed as a poweramplifying transmission device and can in its simplest embodimentconsist of a preferably angular lever provided with a feeding device.This structure will become particularly simple and reliable if thefeeding device is made to cooperate directly with the teeth of thestepping wheel and if the catch and locking device is a pawl likewisedirectly meshing with the teeth of the stepping gear.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING A tree felling guider according to theinvention is described hereafter with reference to the accompanyingdrawing which in FIG. 1 shows a lateral view of the same in itsoperational position, and in FIG. 2 shows the upper portion of the treefelling guider on an enlarged scale.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The tree felling guider asillustrated in the drawing comprises a rod 1 provided at its lower endwith a foot consisting of a supporting and gripping plate 2 which issuitably joined to the rod 1 by articulation. The rod 1, although notshown, may consist of two portions which may slide telescopically or becollapsible by means of an articulation and also through a lockingdevice fixable inter se in the operational position. The supporting andgripping plate 2 is suitably provided about its circumference withgrippers 3 or the like preventing it from sliding on the ground.

The rod 1 is provided at its upper end with a step feeding devicecomprising (1) a wheel 4, having a number of suitably pointed teeth 5arranged to be equally spaced about its circumference and forminggripping means, (2) a paul 6 cooperating with said teeth, and (3) atransmission device made up by a bell crank 7, 8 and an arm 9 pivotallysuspended on the same. The bell crank 7, 8 is pivoted on the shaft ofwheel 4, and the arm 9 is provided to cooperate with the wheel teeth 5.The upper end of rod 1 and the lever portion 7 are suitably forkshaped,with the wheel 4 arranged between the fork branches thus formed. Thepawl 6, which is pivotally arranged on a shaft 10 and held in mesh withthe teeth 5 of wheel 4 by a counter weight 11, is located between thelegs of rod 1 and the arm 9, which is pivotally born on a shaft 12 andis in turn arranged between the legs of bell crank portion 7.

As will be seen by the drawing, when in operation the implement isplaced in an inclining position between the ground 13 and the tree 14 tobe felled. The foot 2 will then rest on the ground 13 and the wheel 4will engage the tree trunk with one or more teeth 5 the tree trunk. Byreciprocally pivoting the bell crank 7, 8 about the center of wheel 4,this wheel revolves in the direction of arrow A in which a way that,with the bell crank turning in one direction, the wheel 4 will beentrained by the feeder 9 while, when turning the bell crank 7, 8 in theother direction, the wheel 4 will be prevented from revolving in theopposite sense by the pawl 6 which by the effect of the counterweight 11is brought to mesh with a suitable clearing.

In this manner the step feeding device causes the upper end of the rod 1to be fed or caused to travel stepwise downwardly along the tree stem.

The tree felling guider, as described hereinbefore, and illustrated inthe drawing, may be modified with respect to its details within thescope of the idea of the invention. The transmission device may, forexample,

be made as a worm gear cooperating with wheel 4 and operated manually bya crank or the like.

I claim: 7

l. A tree felling guider comprising a rod adapted, when in tree fellingoperation to be located between a point of support on the ground and atree'stem, the upper end of said rod adjacent the tree stem havingmounted thereon means for moving the upper end of said rod along thetree stem towards its root end, said last-named means including a stepfeeding device comprising a stepping wheel including gripper meansengageable with the tree stern, revolving means by which said wheel canbe step actuated to tumin one direction, and means adapted to preventthe wheel from revolving in-the opposite direction.

2. A tree felling guided according to claim 1, characterized in thatsaid gripper means of the wheel includes teeth suitably equipped withpoints.

3. A tree felling guider according to claim 1, characterized in thatsaid device for rotatingthe stepping wheel is a power amplifyingtransmission device.

4. A tree felling guider according to claim 3 characterized in that saidtransmission device comprises an angular lever including a feedingmeans.

5. A tree felling guider according to claim 4, characterized in thatsaid feeding means consists of a feeding arm made to cooperate with saidwheel gripper means.

6. A tree felling guider according to claim 2 characterized in that saidmeans for preventing the wheels from revolving comprises a pawlcooperating with the said teeth.

7. A tree felling guider according to claim 2, characwheel is a poweramplifying transmission device and terizcd in that said device forrotating the stepping wheel is a power amplifying transmission device.

8. A tree felling guider according to claim 7, characterized in thatsaid device for rotating the stepping 5 said transmission devicecomprises an angular lever including a feeding means.

1. A tree felling guider comprising a rod adapted, when in tree fellingoperation to be located between a point of support on the ground and atree stem, the upper end of said rod adjacent the tree stem havingmounted thereon means for moving the upper end of said rod along thetree stem towards its root end, said lastnamed means including a stepfeeding device comprising a stepping wheel including gripper meansengageable with the tree stem, revolving means by which said wheel canbe step actuated to turn in one direction, and means adapted to preventthe wheel from revolving in the opposite direction.
 2. A tree fellingguided according to claim 1, characterized in that said gripper means ofthe wheel includes teeth suitably equipped with points.
 3. A treefelling guider according to claim 1, characterized in that said devicefor rotating the stepping wheel is a power amplifying transmissiondevice.
 4. A tree felling guider according to claim 3 characterized inthat said transmission device comprises an angular lever including afeeding means.
 5. A tree felling guider according to claim 4,characterized in that said feeding means consists of a feeding arm madeto cooperate with said wheel gripper means.
 6. A tree felling guideraccording to claim 2 characterized in that said means for preventing thewheels from revolving comprises a pawl cooperating with the said teeth.7. A tree felling guider according to claim 2, characterized in thatsaid device for rotating the stepping wheel is a power amplifyingtransmission device.
 8. A tree felling guider according to claim 7,characterized in that said device for rotating the stepping wheel is apower amplifying transmission device and said transmission devicecomprises an angular lever including a feeding means.